I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In: Methur
by TakingItOutOnTheWall
Summary: At the Christmas feast in Camelot: Arthur is oblivious, Morgana and Gwen are matchmaking and Merlin is scared. A Merthur oneshot for Christmas. Warning: may contain mistletoe


**Merry Christmas! :) I wrote this as a Christmas present for my friend Flo and when coming up with ideas was inspired by the song I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In to write three fics for three different ships from three different fandoms so the other two will be up shortly. They are entirely unrelated except that they are all Christmasy so you can read any of them and in any order. Or you could just read this one. It doesn't matter. Anyway, have a great Christmas and a very happy New Year and I hope you enjoy the story.**

**PS I'm also writing a multichapter fic for Sherlock which is what I should really be working on and although I haven't updated in a while I do intend to do that very soon so feel free to check that out.**

**This particular fic is set after series 1 so none of the Arwen stuff has really happened.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. He belongs to Arthur Pendragon.**

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Arthur gazed across the hall at his manservant. Merlin was standing with Gwen and laughing at something she'd said, looking almost exactly as he always had. Except he seemed like there was a weight off his shoulders. It was a weight that Arthur had never realised was there until a week ago.

One week. Was it really only a week since he'd found out? It felt like forever ago and yet at the same time it seemed like it had all happened yesterday. Looking back on it Arthur wondered how he'd never realised that Merlin was a sorcerer before. He had been saved by so many lucky coincidences since the younger man had entered his life.

Arthur's mind wandered back to what had happened last week.

They'd gone out hunting alone to get away from the chaos in Camelot as the castle prepared for Christmas and been attacked by a group of bandits. Arthur had been fighting them off and had been managing quite well until one of them had sent an arrow flying straight at him. Arthur had been certain he was going to die. But the arrow never hit him. It just froze in midair and Merlin was standing by him with his eyes glowing gold. The bandits all fled after that, scared by the fact that Arthur had a sorcerer on his side. He'd been angry of course. Furious that Merlin had kept this secret from him but when he'd finally calmed down a bit Arthur had let Merlin explain and, although he was still getting used to the idea that his manservant was a powerful warlock whose destiny it was to protect him, he had eventually accepted it.

"Admiring the view are we?" Someone said behind him. Arthur jumped at Morgana's sudden appearance, not having noticed that she was there.  
"God, Morgana! Don't do that again!"  
"Did I scare you?" Morgana teased. "Do you need to go and get daddy to make things better."  
"Shut up Morgana. Of course not." Arthur denied. "I wasn't scared, just surprised. What do you want anyway?"  
"Looks like Merlin's got himself an admirer." Morgana said, apparently changing the subject.  
"What?! Who?!" Arthur looked around the hall trying to see if anyone was obviously paying his manservant more attention than normal.

Morgana laughed next to him at his attempts, looking undeniably smug about something. "You won't see them staring at him."

Arthur huffed in irritation. "What's that supposed to mean?" He demanded.  
"That you aren't looking in the right place." Morgana smirked at him. "It's quite funny really."  
"Yes, I'm sure it is." Arthur replied sarcastically. "Just tell me who it is that fancies Merlin!"  
"Oh, are you jealous? You don't need to be."  
"Jealous!" Arthur exclaimed. "What do you mean, jealous?!"  
"You."  
"What about me?"

Morgana smirked at the prince. "You asked me a question and I'm answering it. Don't complain."

It took a moment for the meaning of what Morgana had said to sink in and when it did it hit him hard.

"Wait, you think I fancy Merlin!" Arthur declared incredulously. "That's ridiculous! What would make you think that?"  
"Well you clearly can't keep your eyes off him." Morgana replied. "Or is there some perfectly innocent explanation as to why you're staring at your manservant?"  
"I'm not staring at him!"  
"You were. I can't blame you. He's not bad looking. Not exactly my type though."  
"Well he's not my type either!"

Morgana raised her eyebrows at him, smiling sceptically. "Sure. Believe what you like Arthur. That doesn't change the fact that you like him." She turned away from him and began to walk towards Gwen and Merlin but stopped for moment and looked over her shoulder at the prince. "I'd be more than happy to help you confess your feelings to him."  
"I don't have any feelings for Merlin!" Arthur denied vehemently.  
"Of course you don't." Morgana called out as she sauntered away.

**xXx**

"He's such a prat!" Merlin said. He was doing his best to just look annoyed but he couldn't help the fondness that crept into his voice.  
"You love him really though." Gwen replied, laughing.  
"Yes, unfortunately." Merlin sighed. He glanced across the hall to look at the aforementioned prince but quickly looked away when he noticed that Arthur was looking in his direction. That had been happening quite often since last week. Merlin supposed that it was something to do with Arthur still trying to get used to the idea that Merlin had magic but part of him couldn't help but hope that his friend was looking at him for the same reason that he often stared at Arthur. _No, stop it._ He told himself. _That's never going to happen so don't get your hopes up._

"Hello, Gwen. Merlin." Morgana's greeting pulled Merlin out of his thoughts and back into the real world. "Merry Christmas. I hope you're enjoying it."  
"Yes, My Lady, thank you." Gwen replied politely.  
"Gwen, you don't have to be so formal." Morgana laughed. "Uther is all the way across the hall. He can't complain about inappropriate behaviour."  
"Alright, Morgana." Gwen answered. "Why are you over here anyway? You were talking to Arthur just now."  
"He was boring me." Morgana responded, adding mischievously. "Although I'm sure he never bores Merlin."

Merlin was suddenly scared about what she was implying. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked defensively.

Morgana gave him a knowing smile. "Those longing looks between the two of you. Did you think I hadn't noticed?"  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
"You sound like Arthur now."

Realisation dawned on Merlin. "You weren't talking to Arthur about that, were you?" He asked, terrified at the idea of Morgana telling Arthur about his feelings for him.  
"Don't worry, Merlin." Morgana smirked at him. "I didn't tell him you love him."  
"How do you know that?" Merlin demanded.  
"It's obvious."  
"It can't be that obvious."  
"It's obvious that you at least fancy him."  
"You said 'love'!"

Morgana sighed. "Fine, Gwen told me." She admitted. "But it's still obvious when you think about it."

"Gwen!" Merlin exclaimed, turning towards his friend. "That was a secret!"

The maidservant smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry, Morgana's very persistent when she wants to know something."  
"Don't try and blame me!" Morgana said accusingly. "You came and told me as soon as Merlin admitted it to you."

"What did Merlin admit?"

_Oh God! Arthur just had to turn up now didn't he._ Merlin thought desperately. _Why couldn't he have stayed over on the other side of the hall?_

"Nothing." Merlin answered quickly. "I didn't admit anything to anyone."  
"Morgana just said you did."  
"Yes, well she meant I... Umm... Admitted that I..." There was a pause while Merlin racked his brains trying to think of an excuse. "I... Err... Forgot to polish your armour the other day."

Arthur gave Merlin a funny look. "That's not what it sounded like to me."  
"That's because Merlin's lying." Morgana cut in, an impish glint in her eyes. "Of course that's not what he admitted. Merlin's secret is much better than that. Isn't it, Gwen?"  
"Oh yes. Definitely." The other girl agreed quickly.  
"I think you'd be quite glad to know, Arthur." Morgana commented slyly. "Although it might be dangerous for the rest of us. You're head would get even bigger if you knew..."

"I need to go." Merlin interrupted quickly, trying to make a swift exit before either of his scheming friends managed to ruin whatever relationship he had with Arthur.  
"Wait! Merlin! You don't have to leave." Arthur protested.  
"I do. I've just realised I need to... Umm... Do something... It's really important..." Merlin knew his excuse was, at best, flimsy but he couldn't stay now that Morgana was suddenly so keen to spill his secret to the very person who should definitely not know it.

"Merlin! There is nothing you could possibly need to do right now!" Arthur argued.  
"No, I really have to leave, Arthur." Merlin claimed, backing away from the small group. He turned and started walking away quickly. He tried not to look too eager to get out but he knew he was probably failing miserably.

**xXx**

"What was that about Morgana?" Arthur exclaimed as soon as Merlin was out of earshot.  
"I was just trying to help you work things out."  
"Work what out?"  
"What we were talking about earlier."

Arthur's eye's widened. "You were matchmaking!"  
"Yes, trying to anyway." Morgana admitted.  
"Why? I don't even like Merlin like that!"  
"Because it's Christmas and it would be better for both of you if you stopped pining after each other."

Arthur felt like he'd just been slapped in the face. "Merlin likes me!" It was like having an epiphany. Suddenly Arthur could see that all the times he had stared at Merlin and passed it off as trying to understand his servant, he had really just been admiring him. He realised how much he'd always worried about Merlin when he was hurt or in danger. Much more than a friend would worry. Arthur had trusted Merlin more than anyone else very soon after they'd met and now he knew why. He was in love with the idiot. He had been for a while.

"I need to find Merlin." Arthur murmured. "Sorry. Morgana. Gwen." He nodded at them both, making a mental note to thank them both later on, as he followed Merlin's route out of the hall.

Once Arthur was out of the hall he started running down the corridor in the direction he knew Merlin would go. It didn't take long for him to catch up with his manservant.

"Wait!" Arthur shouted, following Merlin down the passageway. "Merlin! Stop!"

Merlin turned back to look at him, surprise clearly written on his face. "Arthur! What are you doing here? You should be at the feast."

Finally reaching Merlin, Arthur pulled him into an alcove only to stand there staring at him, not knowing what to say.

"Arthur! What are you doing?" Merlin asked, pushing Arthur off of him. "Why did you follow me?"  
"Umm..." Suddenly Arthur got nervous. _How can I admit my feelings for him when I know that my father will never let anything come of it? It's madness._

But he had to do it. He couldn't _not_ tell Merlin. Arthur studied Merlin carefully, trying to gauge his reaction, when he realised that his servant wasn't looking at him. In fact, he seemed to be looking anywhere except at Arthur.

"What's wrong?" Arthur questioned. "Merlin!"  
"Umm... Nothing." Merlin glanced up but quickly looked down at his feet instead, blushing bright red. Arthur looked up and saw what it was that had caused Merlin to turn red. Directly above their heads was a very distinctive plant that had been hung around the castle for the festive season.

"Mistletoe." Arthur whispered, more to himself than to Merlin. _We have to kiss._ He thought to himself. His heart leapt at the thought and he looked back at Merlin, his gaze resting on the warlock's lips.

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to." Merlin said quickly. "It's just a stupid tradition."

Arthur could see that Merlin was disappointed but was trying not to show it. "Merlin, look at me." Arthur murmured.

Merlin did as he was told, albeit rather reluctantly. Arthur met his eyes, staring at him for a moment before dropping his gaze to stare at his lips. Arthur leaned forward slowly and Merlin seemed to freeze as he brought their lips together. And suddenly Arthur was kissing him. Merlin was stiff for a moment before beginning to kiss Arthur back unsurely.

It was all over too soon when Merlin appeared to realise what he was doing and pulled back hurriedly.

"Sorry, Arthur. I know you didn't want that. Sorry." Merlin blurted out, obviously panicking. "I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. It's just you kissed me and I'm in love with you and I couldn't help it..."  
"Merlin, shut up!" Arthur ordered, cutting off Merlin's rambling. "Did you just say you love me?"  
"No." Merlin denied swiftly. "I didn't say that. What are you talking about?"  
"Merlin!" Arthur interrupted. "Stop denying it. I did _hear_ you."

Merlin looked down at the ground dejectedly. "I'm sorry, Arthur. I can't help it. Just forget I ever said anything."  
"What if I don't want to."

Merlin looked up, evidently surprised. "What do you mean?"  
"What if I'm in love with you too?"

Merlin's eyes were wide in shock but Arthur could see there was a tiny bit of hope in there too. "That's impossible!" The warlock exclaimed. "Why would you love me?"  
"I don't know why. I just know I do."  
"Really?"  
"Yes, really, you idiot." Arthur kissed him again. "I love you and I don't ever want you to change. I want you to always be you."

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**Hope you enjoyed it :) Please review. And check out the other "Three Ships" stories I'm doing. Or don't. It's up to you.**


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